Tag: Duke basketball

Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown officially signs with the Blue Devils

Maliq Brown, the Syracuse transfer who committed to Duke on Monday, officially joined the program on Thursday morning.

Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown officially signed with the Blue Devils on Thursday morning, the team announced.

The move makes his commitment from Monday official.

“Maliq is a skilled, tough, and versatile forward who brings a competitive mentality to every game and practice,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said in a statement shared by the team. “Maliq takes pride in doing all the little things that impact winning.”

Brown averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game with the Orange last season, and he finished with a field-goal percentage of 69.8% in both of his two Syracuse seasons. He also swiped 2.2 steals and added 0.9 blocks on the defensive end.

His efficiency gets even better with advanced metrics. Brown finished with an effective field-goal percentage of 71.3% last season, according to KenPom. No one else in the ACC finished above 61.8%. His 4.12% steal rate also led the conference.

Brown and former Purdue guard Mason Gillis are the only two transfers who have currently committed to Scheyer and the Blue Devils.

JJ Redick reportedly a ‘serious candidate’ for the Charlotte head coaching job

According to a Wednesday report from NBA insider Shams Charania, Redick could get a second interview with the Hornets for their open coaching spot.

JJ Redick might be an NBA head coach sooner rather than later.

After a Monday report that the 15-year NBA veteran interviewed for the Charlotte Hornets head coaching job, NBA insider Shams Charania said on Wednesday that Redick is truly in the running for the job.

“He could have another interview soon as well,” Charania said during FanDuel’s Run It Back show. “He’s a serious candidate.”

Redick is Duke’s all-time leader in career points, single-season scoring average, career free-throw percentage, and career 3-pointers made.

“JJ Redick has a strong desire potentially to move into coaching,” Charania said. “He’s been public about that, privately I’m hearing that as well.”

Charania, who reports for The Athletic, said if the Hornets don’t select Redick, he could interview for other openings later on this offseason.

Charania also listed off Lindsey Harding, the former Duke women’s basketball star, as an assistant who interviewed with the Hornets. Harding was the first Blue Devil taken first in the WNBA Draft and the first woman to be named the NBA G-League Coach of the Year.

New Duke guard Mason Gillis almost exclusively shoots 3-pointers

Across the last two seasons, Duke transfer Mason Gillis took 320 shots for the Purdue Boilermakers. 228 of those were 3-pointers.

New Duke guard Mason Gillis knows what he’s best at, and he isn’t afraid to revolve his game around it.

Gillis, a former Purdue Boilermaker who committed to the Blue Devils on Monday, spent four seasons in West Lafayette. Across his junior and senior campaigns, the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter took 320 total shots.

228 of those attempts came from behind the 3-point line. That’s a whopping 71.3% of Gillis’s attempts over the past two years.

Gillis isn’t just a volume shooter, either. He made a personal-best 46.8% of his triples last season, and he’s a career 40.7% 3-point shooter.

The tendency shows up in his shot chart, too. The Athletic’s Brendan Marks posted a picture of Gillis’s heat map, pointing out that he was KenPom’s No. 4 shooter among high-major teams.

Gillis’s volume and efficiency will be welcomed on a team losing Jared McCain, the presumed first-round pick who converted on 41.4% of his 3-point shots as a freshman.

Khaman Maluach officially signs on with the Blue Devils

South Sudanese star Khaman Maluach, one of the top players in the Class of 2024, made his Duke commitment official on Wednesday.

Duke commit Khaman Maluach officially signed with the Blue Devils on Wednesday, the team announced through social media.

Maluach first committed to head coach Jon Scheyer back on March 6. The five-star South Sudanese center is the No. 3 player in the Class of 2023, according to 247Sports. The 7-foot-2 center played against future teammates Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans at the Nike Hoop Summit earlier this month.

“I am really excited to welcome Khaman Maluach to Duke,” Scheyer said in a statement shared by the team. “His vocal leadership, the energy and enthusiasm that he plays with, and his commitment to winning above individual statistics stood out to me when watching him throughout the recruiting process.”

Maluach recently made a handful of standout plays for the City Oilers in a Basketball Africa League game.

Maluach is the sixth and final freshman from the Class of 2024 to sign on to the Blue Devils. He’ll play alongside Cooper Flagg, the top recruit in the country. The other four members of the class all rank inside the top 51 on 247Sports ranking, with three inside the top 20.

What teams have reached out to TJ Power in the transfer portal?

According to a Monday report from League Ready’s Sam Kayser, at least 10 schools have reached out to former Blue Devil TJ Power. Here are the most notable teams.

Former Duke forward TJ Power is on the market after he announced his intention to enter the transfer portal, and he has plenty of possible paths.

According to a Monday afternoon report from League Ready’s Sam Kayser, more than 10 teams have reached out to Power since he entered the portal. The most notable names include the USC Trojans, the Michigan Wolverines, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The Arkansas Razorbacks and Kentucky Wildcats, both fresh from the John Calipari coaching change, have also both reached out to the former Blue Devil. Kayser also named ACC foes Miami, Wake Forest, and Boston College, along with BYU, West Virginia, and Iowa.

Power, a 6-foot-9 forward and a former four-star recruit, shot 35.7% from 3-point range as a freshman. He only spent one season with Duke, and 42 of his 51 attempts came from beyond the arc.

Kayser specified that other teams have talked to Power since he reached the market, so these 11 schools may not be the only ones in the mix.

Legislation that grants immediate availability to multi-time transfers approved on Monday

Effective immediately, players who transfer will be immediately eligible at their new schools regardless of whether they have transferred before.

In a Monday vote, the NCAA Division I Board approved a motion that grants immediate eligibility for players who transfer for a second time.

The Division I Council already approved the suggestion last week, meaning Monday’s vote was the last step in the ratification process.

The new eligibility rules went into effect immediately, so if the Blue Devils pursue any players who have already transferred this offseason, head coach Jon Scheyer doesn’t need to worry about legislation snags. After commitments from former Purdue guard Mason Gillis and former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown, the Blue Devils coach still has three scholarship spots left to fill.

The new rule also applies to the seven former Duke players who left the program this offseason. For example, if Mark Mitchell decides he wants to leave Missouri after a season, he’ll be free to do so.

Duke in the running for former Dayton guard Koby Brea

According to a Monday report from On3’s Jamie Shaw, the Blue Devils are one of five contenders for former Dayton guard Koby Brea.

The Blue Devils aren’t done in the transfer portal.

According to a Monday report from On3’s Jamie Shaw, former Dayton guard Koby Brea listed Duke among one of his final five options.

As a junior last season, Brea averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-6 New York native shot 49.8% from beyond the arc, by far the best season of his career.

He scored 20 points in two different games last season, first a 22-point night against SMU in November before a 21-point game against Saint Louis in March. He averaged 14.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

Brea has played in 113 games across the last four seasons, but he’s only started 21 times.

After the commitments of Syracuse forward Maliq Brown and Purdue guard Mason Gillis, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer still has three additional scholarships to dole out in the portal. One of them could be going to the former Flyer.

Brea is also reportedly considering Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, and two-time defending national champion Connecticut.

Duke lands Purdue transfer Mason Gillis

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils have landed their second transfer addition after former Purdue forward Mason Gillis announced his commitment to Duke.

Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils have landed their second transfer addition of the offseason.

Former Purdue forward Mason Gillis announced his commitment to Duke on Monday afternoon, per Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

Gillis played four seasons at Purdue after redshirting in 2019-20. He was named the Big 10 6th Man of the Year for his play this past season when he averaged 6.5 points and shot 46.8% from beyond the arc.

In his 39 games across the 2023-24 season, he also averaged 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, and he shot 47.9% from the floor for the campaign.

The pairing seemed like a long time coming after fans noticed Gillis followed the Blue Devils on Instagram last week. Multiple 247Sports experts gave Crystal Ball predictions that the former Boilermaker would pick Duke.

Gillis brings a veteran guard presence to a Duke squad, having played 132 career games across his collegiate career at Purdue. As of Monday afternoon, Tyrese Proctor is the only other upperclassman in Duke’s backcourt.

Gillis is rated as a four-star transfer, according to 247Sports’ Transfer Portal rankings.

He joins former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown as the second commitment to the Blue Devils this cycle. Head coach Jon Scheyer still has three open scholarship spots as he tries to replace Duke’s 10 departures.

Duke basketball signee Isaiah Evans shares photo of him and Cooper Flagg at Jordan Brand Classic

Evans, a five-star recruit, shared a photo of him and future Duke teammate Cooper Flagg from the Jordan Brand Classic on Monday.

Isaiah Evans and Cooper Flagg played on different teams during Sunday’s Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn, but they’re clearly excited to play together in Durham this fall.

On Monday morning, Evans shared a photo of the two standing together during the game on social media.

Flagg scored 19 points and came down with 10 rebounds during the showcase, but Evans and Team Flight came away with the victory.

Evans and Flagg, two of the six stellar freshmen in Duke’s top-ranked 2024 recruiting class, already have plenty of experience with each other. They played on the same team at the McDonald’s All-American Game and the Nike Hoop Summit before they squared off in Sunday’s game.

In fact, during the Hoop Summit, they went viral after Flagg set Evans up for a dunk and jumped in the air as Evans threw down the jam. Evans tweeted about that moment, too.

When and how to watch Cooper Flagg, other Duke commits at the Jordan Brand Classic

Cooper Flagg and four other fellow Duke signees lace up their shoes for Sunday’s Jordan Brand Classic. Check out when and where you can watch here.

Duke fans can get another sneak peek of the 2024-25 Duke men’s basketball team on Sunday night.

All five U.S.-based Blue Devils signees for the incoming Class of 2024, including top-ranked prospect Cooper Flagg, are on the roster for the Jordan Brand Classic. The exhibition pits some of the best high school basketball players in the country against each other.

Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Darren Harris, and Patrick Ngongba will all be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the game. The boy’s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday evening, and fans can watch either through the NBA app or on the NBA YouTube channel.

Flagg already impressed scouts and fans alike at a similar showcase, the Nike Hoop Summit, last week. He put up a 19-point double-double to help Team USA to a comfortable victory.

Based on reactions to Saturday’s practice sessions, Duke fans can expect a similar performance this weekend.